The manager rushed after them. "Wait, let's talk, we can talk." They had no idea who the redhead was or her background; they assumed she was some high-ranking military official. After all, they knew every major merchant and tycoon, but the military was becoming increasingly secretive. Anyone like the redhead was clearly from the armed forces. There weren't many women in the military, but those who were always turned out to be incredibly important figures—ones not to be offended.

The manager opened his smart tablet, trying to placate her. "Please wait a moment, I need to report this to my superiors."

The redhead winked at Ziye and waited for the manager to nod. She had calculated precisely: the sales center wouldn't make much profit from the 200 million price tag, but they would certainly profit. Think she’d let the manager squeeze more money out of her? Impossible!

Buyers like her were rare, giving her a hundred percent certainty that they would sell.

Ziye exchanged a speechless glance with Black Beard and shrugged. If she was going to buy so readily, why did she even call them over?

Sure enough, after muttering into his tablet for a long time, the manager approached the redhead with a wide, forced smile. "Very well, two hundred million it is, deal done."

The redhead didn't show any sign of elation; instead, she adopted the stern demeanor of a queen. "I give you three days to get all the paperwork ready and the villa perfectly clean. You had better check every piece of metal, every reinforcing bar. If this turns out to be shoddy construction, hmph."

The manager chuckled nervously. "No, no, of course not."

The redhead shot him a sidelong glance and said to Ziye, "Come on, let's go look at the house!"

Up in the villa, Ziye admitted she was reasonably satisfied.

People from Silver Crest Star were all used to sprawling houses. Moving into the standard accommodations on the space station felt so cramped they could barely breathe. Although this villa wasn't as vast as those on Silver Crest Star, the sense of space was quite good; at least it didn't feel restrictive.

When Ziye moved to Kaga, she had thought that if she ever earned enough money, she would buy a big house. She never expected that one trip to Kelai, and with a wave of the redhead's hand, this problem would be solved for her.

The redhead pointed to the slightly smaller villa on the right. "Little Brat, give it a name. From now on, it's yours." That villa had no other structures behind it, and fewer nebulas obscured the view, making the entire space open and deep—perfect for tinkering.

Ziye happily exclaimed, "Let's call it 'One-One'—" 'Little Sprout' zipped out with a whoosh and landed lightly on her head. "Little Sprout!"

Ziye plucked it down. "No, Sprout will cause confusion. Let's call it Bean Sprout."

Little Sprout tilted its head in thought, then conceded, "Fine, Bean Sprout."

The redhead ignored the silly antics of the owner and her pet and cut straight to the point. "Three small villas. For now, one each for us, and the large one will serve as our base."

"Oh yeah!" Ziye and Black Beard applauded wildly.

"That's it. You two handle the rest. I'm not involved." After all, interior design was up to personal taste. Black Beard could hire a professional team for an end-to-end overhaul. If they were cheated out of money or messed up the job, hmph, the Queen never lacked agonizing ways to inflict pain.

Three days later, the redhead led her entourage—Black Beard, Ziye, and ten robots—in a grand procession to take possession of the properties.

The beautiful redhead wasn't just picky; she was meticulously demanding. She stood on the landing platform of the rooftop, pointing at the empty space between the villas. "Within five days, construct five specialized airship tracks connecting all four villas. Otherwise, no payment."

In this era, money was king.

The sales center had no choice but to construct the specialized tracks as demanded. Once built, one could board an airship from the villa's ground level and slide directly into the track, reaching the next villa in less than a minute.

The redhead was finally satisfied. With a grand gesture, she ordered the renovation teams inside to start their work.

Eight days later, three crests were painted onto the doors of the villas. Black Beard painted an old man's head; the redhead’s was a seductive beauty, while Ziye's was a small bean sprout breaking through the soil.

Three days after that, the interior decoration was finished. Ziye happily moved into her villa and was just considering how to arrange her workstation when the redhead followed her in.

It turned out the redhead wasn't the type to let you live for free out of pure goodwill. She plopped down onto the living room sofa, tapped the table, and said, "Come here, Little Brat. I need your help with something."

Ziye instantly sensed trouble. "If this involves me becoming a pirate, forget it."

The redhead gave her a soft, dismissive glance. "You look down on pirates?"

Ziye quickly shook her head. "How could I dare?"

The redhead snorted. "Do you know pirate vessels?"

Hearing this, Ziye immediately knew it was related to starship matters. She eagerly scurried over and sat beside the redhead. "'Viper'? " When leaving Silver Crest Star, she had been attacked by the Viper and nearly perished, so that ship left the deepest impression on her.

The redhead was leagues above that class and held no respect for the Viper. "It’s only good for lurking in asteroid belts and orbital lanes; it’s no good for blocking a passage. This ship class has obvious weaknesses, too—it’s too fragile. If it gets hit, it's done for."

Ziye hesitated for a moment. She didn't know much about starships, so she asked, "What ship do you usually use?"

The redhead replied, "Until a few days ago, I was using the 'Minion' interceptor."

The Minion had superior maneuverability and speed, making it extremely difficult for large weapons—especially heavy caliber turrets—to lock onto and track it. This ensured, at the most basic level, that she wouldn't be caught by gate defense cannons or space police. However, the Minion's firepower was insufficient, making it a pain for blockade duty. After all, when blocking a route, the heavier the firepower, the quicker the engagement, and the lower the risk to oneself.

Ziye pondered for a moment and understood what the redhead wanted: a ship with massive firepower, high maneuverability, and great speed. Of course, no mech was perfect; what was strong in one area was weak in another, just as no starship was perfect—prioritizing speed often meant sacrificing defense, and having excellent firepower usually meant lacking speed.

The redhead looked a little disgruntled and said cautiously, "I want to ask for your help to manufacture a mech suitable for blockade operations."

Ziye felt a little uneasy. "If it can't withstand a starship's assault, can a mech possibly do the job?"

The redhead laughed. "Everything has its limitations and strengths. A mech's agility and flexibility far surpass that of a starship; it's better suited for hijacking vessels." If one starship were to attack an industrial vessel, the result would eventually be the industrial ship reduced to space debris, which the attacking ship would then quickly salvage for its cargo.

That method was too crude. If the cargo included fragile goods, little of it might remain intact. Sometimes, even if much valuable material survived, the risk of being pursued by police meant there might be no time to salvage the wreckage. A mech, however, could forcefully board the ship while it was firing, sweep the crew out, and fly the ship away, which was far safer.

Ziye broke out in a cold sweat listening to this.

The redhead leaned back on the sofa, idly playing with her lighter. "Little Brat, are you looking down on me? Unwilling to help?"

Ziye shook her head.

The redhead lit a cigarette and slowly blew out a smoke ring, musing, "Do you know how many legions in space started out as pirates?"

Ziye still shook her head.

The redhead snorted. "Fiya used to be pirates. Hmph, now that they've made it big, they hunt pirates, just to hide their own disgraceful past. The Longda Legion, the Betas Legion, the Watchman Mercenary Group... they were all pirates once. The fastest route for our Wolf's Den to rise up is through piracy."

Ziye sat there, stunned into silence.

The redhead crossed her legs. "I like this dumb look on you. Alright, you work on that mech for me first. If possible, make me another heavy assault mech. I want a ship too, but in your current state, it's a bit too much to ask. Take your time; this old lady has plenty of patience."

Ziye recalled the blueprints she had been working on recently, which, after several revisions, were nearly complete. She opened her light screen and placed it in front of the redhead. "Do you think this mech will work?"

She pointed to a column of data on the right side of the simulated mech system. "These are the projected parameters and firepower for the final product—maximum speed of 408m/s. Also, check the light radar detection intensity, armor, and shield penetration. What modifications do you think are needed?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow, sat up, and rubbed her chest vigorously against Ziye's shoulder. "Not bad! Much stronger than I imagined." She considered it carefully, then began running calculations on her own smart device.

Ziye watched her effortlessly nimble technique and couldn't help but gasp—she was too powerful! The redhead possessed numerous precise calculation systems, all developed specifically for successfully intercepting industrial vessels, one layer after another, calculated flawlessly. As Ziye secretly watched, Little Sprout also crowded over, resting on her head, staring intently at the redhead's tablet.

She had always thought being a pirate only required a strong heart. Now she saw it was a technical profession, even more difficult than repairing or manufacturing mechs—it required a sharp mind, agile handling, the quickest reactions, and the patience to stake out a position for days...

In short, the methods used by those who live by the sword are fundamentally different from ordinary people.

The redhead paid no mind to Ziye's thoughts. Once she finished calculating, her fingernails, painted with bright crimson polish, tapped lightly. "The inertia adjustment isn't quite right. Adjust it by another 0.08, boost the acceleration energy slightly, and smooth out the rest. Have it ready for Old Black by tomorrow; I'll test its performance once it's built."

Ziye noted it down while nodding. "Got it."

The redhead laughed heartily. "Hurry up, I'm getting impatient!"

Ziye couldn't help but smile faintly.

In a certain way, she and the redhead were similar—fanatically dedicated to things they loved, and finding things they disliked utterly superfluous.

The redhead then asked, "What shall we call the mech?"

Ziye replied casually, "I haven't named it yet."

The redhead was immensely pleased, waving her hand grandly to bestow a name: "Call it the 'Queen Model.'"

Ziye offered no objection. "Fine."

The redhead stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, patted her backside, and stood up. "I have something to discuss with Old Black. Keep up the good work." With that, she headed straight to the ground level and took an airship toward Black Beard's villa.

Ziye pondered the redhead’s data, trying to work out the system for inertia adjustment. She had only seen the initial few figures; the subsequent data generated too quickly for her to process.

Little Sprout flapped its wings. "The Queen is indeed excellent. Her tastes differ from yours; listen to her more, and you can't go wrong."

Ziye glanced at it. "Hindsight is 20/20."